80% turnout a "resounding success" for Vietnam elections in 1967

[papau]

Why does no one in the media remember?

Although results are not in, and won't be for at least 24 hours, preliminary figures indicate a turnout of anywhere from half to 60 percent of registered voters, especially heavy in Shi'ite and Kurdish regions. The voter registration list consisted of nearly 14 million names in the food-ration public-distribution database, and the implication that if you didn't vote you didn't get your ration card renewed was less than subtle. As Khalid, a young Iraqi blogger, related: http://secretsinbaghdad.blogspot.com /

"The way the voting happened, is that you go to the voting center, and you go to the man that is your ration dealer, the one that you take the ration from him every month, so you tell him that you are gonna vote, he marks your name on his list, and then you vote!!!
that way the goverment will know exactly who voted and who didnt, two dealers said that the next years' card won't be given to those who didnt vote.."

That so many registered voters didn't show up at the polls, in spite of this sort of intimidation, should tell us something about the depth of the split that sunders Iraqi society. The nonvoters – in this context, the complete rejectionists – polled more than any single party. This result should dampen the oddly artificial triumphalism of the moment and let us give thought to what this election portends.

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Today Katie asked Bremer the question re 120,000 trained police/Military in Iraq and Time Mag saying its 14000 such who are in employed - Bremer just said 120,000 was the administration number and he does not know where the 14000 came from.

And Katie asked Bremer re the 9 billion that under Bremer that went missing - or at least no audit trail - and he said he took financial controls very seriously and that his job was to get the economy going by spending money - No follow up question by Katie about the lack of water and electricity at pre- war levels 2 years later.

But still - a surprise - Katie did ask the questions.

Of course Matt was in full cheerleader for Bush/GOP mode - but that was no change from any other day.

[papau]

1. Source for VietNam 67 election

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:OXIP6zafnBsJ:www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/frus/johnsonlb/v/13156.htm+turnout++for+Vietnam+elections+in+1967&hl=en

In telegram 2972 from Saigon, August 12, Bunker reiterated this theme of "unfair" press criticism of the GVN. (National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59, Central Files 1967-69, POL 27 VIET S)

Last year, to put the best face on the Constituent Assembly referendum, I formed a White House task group with Bill Moyers in the chair. My constant refrain was to emphasize one sensible theme about that referendum and to urge keying all of our press handling to it. We picked my theme that the size of the vote would be the best single indicator of success. We deliberately played down our own expectation of at least a 70 per cent turnout of registered voters (we even exceeded that). Instead, we opined that even a 50 per cent turnout would be regarded by us as a major demonstration of growing popular interest in the political process, and a defeat for the VC (who of course were attempting to disrupt the election). As it turned out, most of the press play was on the impressively large turnout. The result was a big plus.


http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:OXIP6zafnBsJ:www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/frus/johnsonlb/v/13156.htm+turnout++for+Vietnam+elections+in+1967&hl=en

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/frus/johnsonlb/v/13157.htm
In general elections held on September 3, 1967, the South Vietnamese people elected Nguyen Van Thieu as President and Nguyen Cao Ky as Vice President. The vote for the Thieu-Ky ticket was 1,638,902, or 34.8 percent of the total cast. Opposition tickets headed by Truong Dinh Dzu, Phan Khac Suu, and Tran Van Huong received, respectively, 17.2 percent, 10.8 percent, and 10 percent of the total vote cast. An analysis contained in Ambassador Bunker's weekly telegram to President Johnson noted that a large portion of the vote for the Thieu-Ky ticket came from areas outside the large urban centers, while the other candidates led in the major cities, as evidenced by the fact that Suu received the most votes in cities such as Hue and Danang and Huong received more votes than Thieu in Saigon. The members of the Senate were chosen at this time, while elections for the House of Representatives were to be held on October 22. "The Presidential election results speak for themselves and will go far to answer the earlier charges that the government was guilty of improper activities during the campaign and would manipulate the results," Bunker suggested. Bunker's full analysis of the election is in his 19th weekly report to the President, telegram 5060 from Saigon, September 6. (National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59, Central Files 1967-69, POL 27 VIET S; printed in full in Pike, The Bunker Papers, pages 147-159)


The meeting opened with the discussion of the Vietnam elections observers. The President asked if Lodge could be contacted to see if he could stay an extra day or two to talk to the news media for backgrounders. He also hoped Senator Hickenlooper could talk to CBS. The President commented that he would be meeting with Labor leaders next week.

Rusk said he had talked to Tom Wicker concerning the factual errors in this morning's article in the New York Times on the Vietnam elections. Rusk said Wicker failed to recognize that about half the Vietnam population is under voting age. Rusk told Wicker there is no bar to voting as long as they were registered. It was agreed that Bill Bundy would write a corrective letter promptly to the New York Times.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

2. Oh that did turn out well, didn't it, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Nixon....

:eyes:.